April 2007/3

Lloyd's has taken measures to ease the passage of brokers wishing to access the market as it continues to execute its rolling three-year strategy of delivering the "platform of choice".

SCOR officially launched its hostile takeover bid for rival Converium last week (4 April) as it provided further details of the rationale behind the proposed deal which it hopes will create a top 5 global reinsurer and yield an A+ rating by 2010.

Bermudian reinsurer Bridge Re, which is wholly owned by investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort, is set to provide a further $182.5mn of securitised capacity to the property catastrophe retrocession market.

The multinational broking giants – namely Marsh, Aon, Willis et al – may still be suffering from the effects of a Spitzer-induced hangover, but elsewhere it is becoming difficult to ignore the growing interest in the industry from prospective acquirers.

German giant Allianz has become the first insurer to transfer flood risk to the capital markets with a $150mn cat bond issued by Cayman Island’s special purpose vehicle Blue Wings Ltd.

AXA, the French insurance giant, is set to confirm another UK broker acquisition with its swoop for the private equity backed Smart & Cook, according to reports.